HTC in the past few days has released a few new Android apps ahead of the global release of the HTC One M9, and it's updated a number of its current apps for it and the HTC One M8 as well. Leading the way is the addition of three new features for the Dot View Case.

The news that Google is now reviewing apps submitted to Google Play is bound to draw the ire of folks who prefer a wide-open Internet. But the long-term ramifications mean better apps for all.
There have been some pretty clear battle lines drawn within Android Central over the years, even if the two sides aren't readily apparent publicly. For some time I've advocated that Google need some sort...

Acrobat DC apps for Android and iOS (and with easy syncing for Windows access)
Adobe may have invented the portable document format — that'd the venerable PDF, boys and girls — but for whatever reason its "Acrobat" suite never really had much to do with consumers, and even for biz types it often was easier just to print, sign, scan and send. That ends today with the announcement of Document...

We've already poured some 3,000 words into the HTC One M9 in our massive preview post, but there's still been a pretty large variable missing from that equation: Availability. Looks like we might finally get that answer — at least in the United States — on Wednesday, according to HTC's Jason Mackenzie.

Spring is five days away. Or, ya know, it's already here. So let's remember to get outside and try to enjoy it a little bit, m'kay? (I'm writing this from the back porch, cup of coffee in hand, actually.)
And in that spirit, I'll keep things short today. A few quick hits to start the week:

We briefly touched on HTC's new fitness tracker app in our massive preview of the HTC One M9, and today HTC Fun Fit is now available for a number of Android devices running Android 4.1 and up.
The app's nicely laid out and uses your phone to keep track of your steps, walking time, distance, calories burned, active time and running time. You also can see how your friends are doing at a glance.

Dumb car stereos are about to truly get smart as the automotive solutions with Google and Apple hit the market.
The long wait for the first aftermarket head units that run Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay is finally over. Pioneer is shipping its entry-level AVH-4100NEX unit for around $700.
Update 8 a.m. EDT March 16: Google got back with us about Android Auto not actually being available yet...

There's more than one way to make sure you never lose a photo again. And these are some of the best.
It's 2015. There's absolutely no reason to ever lose a photo that you've taken on your smartphone. If anything, the bigger problem should be that you're saving too many pictures and have to cull them from time to time. (That's another post for another day, though.)
Then question, then, is...

It's Friday the 13th, which for some folks is a day of doom and gloom. But we have so many days like that we figured with turn things on their head and break down the latest with the release of Android 5.1 Lollipop, rap a bit about the new devices we've still got coming our way, Russell nerds out on some 3D printing — and, yes, we'll devote precisely 270 seconds to the damned Apple Watch.
OK,...

Believe it or not, the LG G3 was one of the first — OK, technically the first, because Poland — to get an Android 5.0 update out the door. Europe flourished first, then other regions. North America has finally started to see some sweet L drop onto its carrier-branded phones. (Verizon, however, remains pokey as usual.)
For the most part, it's business as usual with LG's software. But you do get...

Now that Android 5.1 (still Lollipop) has been officially announced with a few new features and presumably a bunch of bugfixes, it's time for the updates to begin. As always, that starts with Nexus devices. And that means we can speed the updates along a little bit, if we're so inclined.
If you're the kind of nerd who doesn't mind a little sideloading or factory image action, go ahead and...

Zynga's Empires and Allies has been a pretty huge hit already, and it's getting ready to make the leap to Android. The game's currently in closed beta for this here little operating system, but we've got your key to getting in on the action.

Verizon will finally get its Nexus 6 tomorrow, March 12. Online, that is. You'll have to wait a week to get it in stores.
The long wait for the latest Nexus on Verizon is finally over. Almost. Verizon is launching the Google/Motorola phone online starting March 12 (that's tomorrow), and it'll be in stores March 19. It'll run $249.99 with a two-year deal or $27.08 a month on Verizon EDGE.

Pocket Casts — one of our favorite podcast players — has finally made public its long-awaited update to Material Design. That is a great-looking app just got even more great looking.
And more important is that you can easily subscribe to the Android Central Podcast in Pocket Casts. Or other podcasts, too. But definitely ours.

We're usually pretty quick to point out when things are broken. And so we should strive to be just as fast to point out when they're fixed. And while I don't know exactly when Instagram posts began sharing properly on Google+ — chances are it's been working longer than I realize, a fact someone surely will point out in the comments, thus proving my point — but it's a welcome change, for sure.

We've been using smartwatches for a while now. Android Wear since summer 2014. Pebble before that. Samsung's own Gear line. Various other iterations here and there. And so it's been fun to watch (sorry) our pals at iMore as the days have ticked by (sorry again) as they gear up (OK we'll stop now) for the release of the Apple Watch. There's now a launch date — April 24, with preorders on April...

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know full well that Apple is showing off its Apple Watch today. Again. That's great, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Android Wear, which is what Google's showing off in this latest spot.

Does it really matter which end the 3.5 mm headphone jack is on? For some it's a deal-breaker.
Take a swing through our Galaxy S6 forums and you'll find a pretty good thread on one of the more controversial but equally important changes to this year's flagship phone. Actually, on both the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge. That is to say, the bottom of the phone has changed a good bit.
Never...

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